Turnabout Curse
by Adri Mars
Summary: AU A group of new students of law and order collaborate together to solve and uncover a mystery of their institution known as The Deauxnim Curse. A mystery adventure with a bit of humor. Pairings? What pairings? Read the AUTHOR NOTES first!
1. First Interlude: The Deauxnim Curse

**TURNABOUT CURSE**

_**(An Ace Attorney Fanfic)**_

by Adrimarie

**First Interlude: The Deauxnim Curse  
(Phoenix Wright)**

* * *

_My very first attempt at an Ace Attorney-themed fanfic. **Alternate Universe (AV)** fic, where many of the characters' ages and relationships (somewhat) are a bit altered just for the sake of the fic. And of course, I love majority of the characters (as in the regulars) that I couldn't afford not including them or mentioning them at all._

_A bit of a warning. Despite that this is an AU fic, spoilers from all five games are heavily present in this story. Pairings? Not important in this story, plus I don't follow "fan" trends when it comes to pairings. I just go with the flow with the plot and see where it heads at, then if necessary I'll work with the pairings accordingly, and when I do create pairings I'll make sure that they do make sense and use the basis of the original storyline of the games instead of creating out of the blue pairings that make no sense at all. But please do read just for the sake of the story. _

_Reviews, comments, questions, suggestions, or even constructive criticism are always welcome. ^_^; **MAJOR SPOILERS **are indicated in this fanfic from all current **five games **(that includes the latest release, **Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations**.) Don't forget to read the **Author's Notes** below. Very important stuff for anyone to read before you review. ^^;_

* * *

**May 17 1:30 pm  
Atticus Finch Junior High School  
Los Angeles, California  
**  
Larry Butz and I leaped for joy once we received our test scores from the California Institute of Law and Order admissions test. I was overwhelmed with how well I did, though Larry barely passed his admissions test, but either way we were still happy that we would still get to hang out right past after junior high. He still wouldn't let me in his reasoning with why he wanted to attend The CILO when he had little or no interest in law enforcement in general. I still had this inkling feeling that he was out to party independently and try to score some girls in to his life once we start our high school years there. How he was going to survive The CILO still remained a mystery to me.

I kept gazing at the document that broke down the results I had from the admissions test. My biggest goal in life was to become a defense attorney after a childhood incident that almost got me in to trouble. If it wasn't for that old friend, who displayed such wit and charisma to the rest of the class, who knows what may have happened to me right now. Still celebrating, we had another reason why we were both happy to get in to The CILO. We both sensed reunion with our longtime friend from elementary school, Miles Edgeworth, once we get there in the next school year.

Man, that Miles Edgeworth. He was kind of quiet but his cool demeanor really got him really popular among the kids in school that Larry and I sort of got jealous. Just a bit, but no more. That kid wasn't just popular but he was also open to everyone and his organized plans to his goal really inspired a lot of kids to determine their own goals too. Like me, he wanted to be a defense attorney, just like his famous father in the public defense office, Gregory Edgeworth. Any kid of a famous lawyer also meant that kid was seriously loaded and he can have as many toys and stuff as he wanted. All the boys in our class back then wanted everything that Miles Edgeworth had. In addition, there are others who all wanted to be like Miles Edgeworth.

For Larry and I, there was only one Miles Edgeworth. No substitutes accepted. After that incident, the three of us hit our friendship off and we were just rocking our days like any kid would.

But one day, Edgeworth had to move out of town for some mysterious reason. His enthusiasm and his openness simply disappeared one day, only showing signs of sadness and worry. Larry and I tried to cheer him up, even tried to get him to talk to us even if it wasn't about his problems. The only thing he said to us was that he was going to move out of town for family reasons. Larry tried to extract his true reasoning out but I decided to just leave it at that. A week later, he was gone, but the day before he left, he did tell us one thing, which gave Larry and I a signal of sort. He said he planned on getting in to The CILO to pursue his career in law. It was because of his ambition that got Larry and I in to pursuing admission to The CILO too.

Maybe when we start attending The CILO that we would find Miles Edgeworth again. And then it would be happy times with just the three of us just like before. Maybe we can even reap some rewards on the so-called typical high school life like Larry suggested during our days at The CILO. Maybe all three of us may even graduate out of The CILO and get in to law school in order to earn our attorney badges and our Juris Doctor at the same time to get in to our own practice. I don't know what Larry's real intentions are, but I know that Edgeworth and I will be heading right at the top!

There was also another reason why I wanted to go to The CILO so bad for the remaining of my teenage educational days. In fact, I think those who were seriously passionate in pursuing a career in law enforcement would agree with me with this reasoning. I wanted to be one of the first people to uncover the real story behind a very popular urban legend regarding The CILO. There had been books, news reports, and such about this particular urban legend. For us locals here in L.A., the urban legend is known as _The Deauxnim Curse_.

What is _The Deauxnim Curse_? Well, I'll just give you the basic story behind all this. It took place some few centuries ago about a mysterious spiritual medium named Amaryllis Deauxnim who was called forth by the law authorities to summon a particular spirit in order to solve an unsolved mystery regarding a hidden treasure believed to be buried somewhere in the grounds of The CILO. Eventually she was able to channel that spirit and revealed the location of that treasure. Immediately, Amaryllis Deauxnim and two detectives from the local police department were assigned to head to The CILO to locate that buried treasure. Once they arrived at the spot they began to dig that spot. However, once they dug it up, from out of the blue the two detectives were stricken and were killed instantly. How they died remained a mystery. The spirit medium, however, was the only one spared and felt that the entire area was cursed. She attempted to escape, but when next day came, some students and faculty of The CILO found Amaryllis Deauxnim's body hanged at the front flagpole at the courtyard. It was like she was killed right before she was lynched up at the flagpole. The police were not able to determine what really happened here. Very little evidence was found regarding the causes of death and whether Amaryllis Deauxnim's death was considered a suicide or murder.

A month later, there was another body found dead at the same area the detectives died. The month after that, another body was found at the flagpole, also hanged. Both of them were either faculty member or student. And it went on and on for centuries, alternatively from that same area as the detectives' deaths and then hanged from the flagpole, even today. The interesting part was that none of these monthly deaths--- if they were really real--- were even reported on the news and such. A lot thought there was foul play involved within the closed doors of The CILO, but there were the skeptical ones who believed that there were wandering spirits, both good and evil, one of them most likely be Amaryllis Deauxnim. The superstitious pointed out that because any one of these spirits made an appearance to whoever was wandering around campus at late night and frightened them to their deaths.

I've heard a bit of these rumors and urban legends when I was a kid from Edgeworth, who also got these stories from his father. Apparently around the courthouses and throughout the LAPD and the CHP, _The Deauxnim Curse_ was and still is a widely-known story for them. Despite of these rumors, The CILO's enrollment rate still continued to grow every year, admitting more students highly interested in law enforcement. Once I get there, I want to investigate to see if _The Deauxnim Curse _was seriously for real or just another rumor some idiot spread to scare people and discouraging them to attend the institution.

"Yo Nick! We should head out to our usual hangout and PAR-TAY!" I heard Larry breaking the peace of my contemplation with a huge smile on his face. "Dude, you, me, Edgey, The CILO... we're seriously set to a wonderful life forever, man!"

I raised an eyebrow of suspicion, still wondering how Larry managed to pass one of the educational system's most challenging entrance exams in the country, if not the world. Though he only missed the threshold mark by just one point, still. Maybe his addiction to those crime dramas on TV on prime time finally gave him some kind of education about law enforcement. Whether he was going to study law or join in the criminal justice system, I just hope he doesn't start stealing lines from those TV shows expecting those lines would actually intimidate anyone in real life.

"The usual hangout?" I wondered, scratching my head. "I think we should save the celebration after we graduate out of junior high, Larry. It's a lot more fun that way."

Larry suddenly clung on to my arm with that begging expression on his face. "But... but... but... the babes! They're gonna be there, dude! I overheard the Sweet Chix crew earlier at lunchtime that they're gonna stop by there! And... and it's Steel Samurai Hotdogs special too--- cheap and good, man! Come on, Nick..."

"But I got homework to do and I don't want to miss my favorite show tonight!" I continued to protest, trying to drag my arm from him.

"Your favorite show? What, the local news and CNN? You gotta have a life too, Nick! I don't want you wasting the rest of your junior high life looking like a zombie and mumbling about someone getting killed and all--- that's just horrifying, dude!" I felt Larry continuing to tug my arm to him. Unfortunately, there was no stopping Larry Butz when it comes to girls and hotdogs.

"Fine, fine... but just this once, Larry! I could use a good Steel Samurai hotdog or two..."

Larry grinned happily and abruptly dragged me out to the school gates, where those Sweet Chix clique of girls were spotted across the street from the gates. Another school day has ended, but as for me, seeing my overwhelming high scores on The CILO admissions exam was the one and only reason why I'm leaving school with a smile on my face.

* * *

_Ace Attorney © CAPCOM. No copyright infringement intended._

**AUTHOR NOTES:**

Thanks for taking the time for you to read my first attempt at an Ace Attorney fanfic. This is an alternate universe/AU fic, obviously, with a lot of fictional (and sometimes derived from real life) concepts here. Here's just another take of how our favorite characters from the Ace Attorney series would solve a murder mystery. Anyway, notes below:

**[CHARACTERS & AGES PRESENT IN THE INTERLUDE]**

Phoenix Wright – 16

Larry Butz – 15

#1 - **"The CILO"** _(pronounced "see-lo") _is just a local nickname for The California Institute of Law and Order. This is a fictional name and place. (I live in California myself and I can assure you there's no such thing as this specialized criminal (and civil) justice school here)

#2 – **Atticus Finch** is a character from the novel _To Kill a Mockingbird _by Harper Lee. This character is one of the more famous defense attorneys in the literary world, known to defend an African-American man accused of raping a white woman taking place in the very racist deep Southern U.S. In the early 20th Century. The actor of the movie version, Gregory Peck, became an inspiration to the CAPCOM character designing staff (?) to model Miles Edgeworth's father, Gregory Edgeworth, after him.

#3 – **Juris Doctor (JD)** is the highest professional degree in Law. It's an equivalent to a Ph.D., except this is exclusive for attorneys, both prosecution and defense. In the real world, all lawyers who want to be in the profession must have a Juris Doctor degree as they can only earn this from graduating law school. In the _Ace Attorney _world, I assumed that the attorney badge is the equivalent to a Juris Doctor. In this story, because not everyone in law school becomes a lawyer (there's also the judges too, though I also heard that one has to be a lawyer first before becoming a justice in court in real life), anyone who wants to have a profession in law must have a Juris Doctor degree, with the attorneys from all sides (prosecution, defense, counsel, etc.) earn their attorney badges.

#4 – **LAPD **is the acronym for the Los Angeles Police Department. Since the localization of the game did state that this takes place in Los Angeles, it'd only make sense. Wouldn't that make our beloved detectives like Gumshoe, Ema Skye, and Tyrell Bad be part of the LAPD?

#5 – **CHP** is the acronym for the California Highway Patrol. Not closely related, but they're still part of the state's law enforcement.


	2. The CILO's Most Elite

**TURNABOUT CURSE**

_**(An Ace Attorney Fanfic)**_

by Adrimarie

**The CILO's Most Elite  
(Phoenix Wright)**

* * *

_Because FanfictionNET's chapter system doesn't include a "Prologue" chapter, an "Interlude" chapter, and all those other special chapters, I decided not to number these "chapters". Instead, I'd just give them titles. "Episode" titles, perhaps?_

_Reviews, comments, questions, suggestions, constructive criticism, what not, always welcome. I'll even read your negative comments as long as you've got valid reasons why you don't have a positive review of this fic (or a portion of this fic). Short comments such as "You suck!" or "Your writing sucks!" or "I don't like this so-and-so pairing" will be ignored or if I do bother reading them, I'll just laugh at you for it._

_**MAJOR SPOILERS **are indicated in this fanfic from all current **five games **(that includes the latest release, **Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations**.) Don't forget to read the **Author's Notes** below. Very important stuff for anyone to read before you review. ^^;_

* * *

**August 24 7:30 am  
Central Square  
California Institute of Law and Order**

**Los Angeles, California**

Our first step through the gates of the ever-elite California Institute of Law and Order, known to us locals as _The CILO_, felt like entering college for the first time. Larry Butz's parents gave us a lift among with the stuff we need to furnish our assigned dormitory apartment. The dorms of The CILO, judging by the photos on the brochures, looked so upper class that in order to save money that each dorm room housed students to a maximum of five. We got our assignments and we got lucky that we got to bunk together in the same room. The only mystery to this now is who our other three bunkmates would be. I hoped they would be easy to get along well so that we wouldn't have to worry about who was responsible for a particular household chore, who does the cooking, and all that. Unfortunately, we were just kids with little to no experience of household cleaning. With Larry being one of my bunkmates for our first year, I began to worry immediately.

Mr. Butz, Larry's father, helped us carry our suitcases and a few boxes of some stuff, such as our portable desks and other necessary tools and items for our desks through the campus. This early week began our summer orientation for first-year students. Apparently for Larry and I, we were both first-year students, and the rest of our fellow first-year students varied in different ages. The youngest was around eight-years-old, by the name of Pearl Fey, and the oldest being in his thirties. We met a lot of cool kids near our ages, namely Pearl Fey's older cousin, Maya Fey, and an aspiring forensics CSI (crime scene investigator) named Ema Skye. The girls all had connections to The CILO's Most Elite and even the higher officials of the local law enforcement, namely the faculty and the student council. Maya's older sister is rookie public defender Mia Fey, along with her boyfriend, seasoned public defender Diego Armando. The couple, according to Maya, were currently interning in the Public Defense office not too far from the city hall and the LAPD office, already working on their dissertations that would determine whether they were ready to earn their JDs and their badges.

It was the same situation with Ema's older sister, rookie prosecutor Lana Skye. Though she was also working on her dissertation, she took a different approach than Mia and Diego. She decided to intern in LAPD as an interim detective to learn the processes of police detectives before their reporting reaches the district attorney's office. After her internship period with the police, she planned to take another internship in the district attorney's office, where prosecution attorneys would eventually end up working.

Along with the girls, there was a kid two years younger than Larry and me, named Apollo Justice. He looked a lot younger than his age, but he had this charismatic rhetoric that he would bust off whenever we get in to discussions regarding old renowned cases tried in the local courts. Like me, Apollo sought to become a defense attorney. We also had the same reasons why we wanted to follow this path. It was simply because no one would want to defend or prove someone accused of a particular crime or sin innocent. Apollo came to the orientation with his younger half-sister, Trucy Enigmar, who was currently attending a rather strange school a few blocks from The CILO, called The Star Angels School of Sorcery. Trucy wanted to become a full-pledged magician, though I'm one of the skeptics who would wonder what she would do with her life after magic school. Good luck to her, I guess.

After we filled out our paperwork two days ago at the orientation and made reservations on required equipment for our study, such as a laptop and other types of peripherals, we filled out an application together regarding room and board and placed our names together in one room: Larry, Apollo, and me. Hopefully Apollo would be dorm mate number three and we can only worry about who the remaining two would be so we can be considered a full house. We left the preferred dormitory house blank since we really didn't care where we ended up. When Larry and I got the room and board assignments, we were shocked to see that we were placed at the LPW, or its more formal name, Lord Peter Wimsey House.

We've heard people around us hoping they would end up at the LPW House as everyone said that the LPW House was the permanent dorm residency of The CILO's Most Elite. The more popular students and kids of more notable figures in law enforcement were housed there. It was said that very few students from the average background ever made it to the LPW. When we read our room and board letters, I felt a lot overwhelmed to have such honor. Still, what made me wonder was Larry the slacker being able to be housed in the LPW. When I thought about it, there had to be some kind of conspiracy behind.

Our shuttle came when we were at the waiting area for the dorm shuttles to arrive. We spotted the shuttle that had _Lord Peter Wimsey House _on it and we knew that was the shuttle we were to take along with their stuff. Once Mr. Butz aided us in loading our stuff, we heard Apollo, the Fey Girls, and Ema Skye rushing their stuff with their parents and guardians to the shuttle stop. Apparently we learned that they were also assigned to board at the LPW. At least we weren't that segregated from one another, now that we're all going to be under the same roof.

We also found out that Apollo was definitely going to be our third dorm mate at the LPW, which made Larry and I a lot more comfortable that we've got another friend to hang out with throughout our years here at The CILO. After our stuff was loaded at the back of the shuttle, we said goodbye to the adults who brought us here and boarded the shuttle.

The driver of the shuttle was a rather active old lady with the name tag _Wendy _on her shirt. We greeted her humbly, but in return, gave us a rather suspicious glare. When Larry and I took our seats at the back, the old lady, I mean the shuttle driver, stood up and glared right at us.

"So!" The old lady darted her rather loud and somewhat obnoxious-sounding voice right at us. "You must be the _rookie whippersnappers_ of the LPW House this year, huh? Ya all don't look like much for me to believe you kids would actually make it to the profession of law enforcement! Ya ain't like the dreamy Demon Prosecutor or that hot rocker cutie prosecutor, who are the real lords of the LPW! You all disappoint me just by looking at your serious newbie faces!"

Knowing Larry, he would stand up and make a rather harsh insult to anyone who insulted us on purpose, but because we were indeed new students at The CILO, I decided to quickly cover his mouth with my hand as the rest of us remained silent to this old woman's unexpected snobbery to us. The old lady continued on with her usual blabber: "You newbie whippersnappers better got something very special for the entire residence of the LPW House to take notice, you know. These kids at the LPW are considered the finest among the entire student body of The GILO and they would only bother introducing themselves to those with something very special within them. At the LPW, it don't matter whether you've got the smarts or the drive to have a career in law enforcement, you still gotta have something extra special that no one else has. But if I were you, you better start requesting to move out of the LPW and find a better, safer dorm house 'cause I'm telling you; it's a jungle out there!"

As the elderly driver known only as Wendy continued to blab out her frustrations about the so-called elitism of the regular residents of the LPW, her complaints were interrupted when another passenger--- a girl with breathtaking beauty--- dashed to the entrance of the shuttle along with her luggage. Just as the old woman was about to berate at the girl, I quickly got up to grab the girl's bags to help her, as well as shut the old woman up. Once settled, the girl nervously bowed to the elderly driver with fear on her eyes.

"I… I'm sorry I'm late, Ma'am… it's… it's just that the Greyhound bus that I rode from Hazakura Temple to the city broke down in the middle of the freeway. I… I don't know what to do if I do miss this shuttle, Ma'am…"

"Ugh, enough excuses. Typical newbie student." The old woman rolled her eyes. "Take a seat already. I almost forgot to take role to be sure that all of you lucky ones are here so we can take off to the LPW."

Larry quickly stood up from his seat, blocking me quickly just as I was about to take my seat next to him. He immediately turned his starry eyes to the troubled girl: "Aw, don't cry now. We're all friends here. That oldbag over there has got issues---"

"Why you little---" The old woman was about to grasp her hands at Larry when I immediately blocked her way to save the Butz.

"Um… aren't you supposed to take role… Ma'am?" I nervously answered to calm both sides down. Larry invited the girl to sit next to him afterward, forcing myself to sit at the empty seat next to Apollo.

"Fine, fine. Settle down already!" We got ourselves comfortable after hearing an earful of randomness from Wendy, the elderly driver reached for her clipboard with a small list of names and took the roll call in alphabetical order.

"Butz."

Larry grinned and raised his hand. "Present, Ma'am!"

"Fey."

"Here!" Both Maya and Pearl raised their hands at the same time.

"Um, both of us that is, Pearl and me, heh," Maya clarified with a slight snicker to Wendy.

"Alright, alright. Maya and Pearl Fey present…" The old woman checked their names off and called the next name on the list.

"Hawthorne."

"Th-that's me, Ma'am!" The girl next to Larry raised her hand and answered nervously.

"Justice."

"H-here!" Apollo raised his hand nervously. "Um, sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Wendy darted her voice at the younger guy next to me.

"For… getting you mad… yeah." Apollo flashed a small smile at her. Wendy ignored him instead and moved on down the list.

"Skye."

Ema raised her hand without saying a word. Somehow not saying anything irritated the old woman. "Aren't you going to say something about your presence?"

The girl sitting behind Larry and the Hawthorne girl removed her pink-lens sunglasses and gazed right at Wendy. "Look, Ma'am, I know you don't like noobs and all, but we're getting restless in here. We should be heading to the dorms now so we can settle down before we go to the new students' assembly later today… and I still gotta attend the Forensic Science Basics Seminar after that, so I got no time to sit around here getting lectured nonsense by some driver who thinks she's master of the house! Besides, I'm craving for some Snackoos. I heard from my sister that the LPW House sell cheaper Snackoos at their vending machines and I'm seriously craving for one right now…"

"Goodness, you pesky whippersnappers! Just taking role and all you kids think of is food! Well I've never!" Ema shrugged her arms and the roll call continued.

"Wright."

"Here." I raised my hand calmly despite the old lady turned her head away from me and headed back to her driver's seat.

"Well, guess we're all here. No need to wait for any more people. You kids better feel lucky you'll be spending your entire year boarding at the LPW. Y'all ought to be grateful and never forget that!"

We all answered in agreement at random times as Wendy drove the shuttle from the stop and now on our way to the LPW House.

*** * * * ***

**August 24 8:35 am  
Lord Peter Wimsey (The LPW) House**

**California Institute of Law and Order**

**Los Angeles, California**

After we arrived at the lobby area of the majestic, old-world looking boarding house known as the Lord Peter Wimsey House, we had our very first dilemma. For one thing, the lobby area was ridiculously crowded, mostly crazy teenage girls crowding around the area and even at the stairs leading to the dorms upstairs. Second, there were police and other security officers around, trying to drag the girls out of the way so the students arriving would have way to get to their dorms. The old lady driver Wendy called security to bring our luggage and other things upstairs to our dorms ahead so we wouldn't have to get tumbled by these crazy swarm of screaming girls.

We sat at the almost empty and quiet café area of the LPW and had small breakfast. Even after we ate breakfast, the area was still crowded. Though this was becoming annoying we all decided to get to know each other more. The beautiful troubled girl who arrived late at the shuttle, a spiritual nun-in-training named iris Hawthorne, was lucky to win a scholarship to study at The CILO in exchange for her spiritual prayer and rehab services for The CILO's psychology department. Iris came here to work, mostly, but at the same time she wished to have general education just like any teenager would do. She admitted how naïve she was with the world and would like to get over that naivete for a very rare opportunity such as this. Still, deep within she didn't seem to fit the nun-in-training role. I guess until now, deep inside, I still found myself captivated by her innocence, her sweetness, and her natural beauty. If only Larry would just get out of the way so I can have a chance to sit next to her and speak with her for the first time.

"Hey Nick!" I felt a hard nudge, snapping me back to reality, and found Maya grinning directly right at me. "First day at The CILO and you're daydreaming already?"

"Ah, sorry. I… just had some things in mind, that's all, Maya." I made a quick fib at the spirit medium in training, hoping she would be of use to contact the spirits of murdered victims and find answers to the most complex questions in solving a murder mystery. Still, Maya was not phased by my fib and continued to grin at me.

"Are you sure, Nick? If you ask me, your eyes are seriously fixated towards my cousin."

"I second that, Mystic Maya!" The little prodigy girl Pearl Fey cheered with a snicker on her face. "Did we tell you? I have a half-older sister, and you're looking at her--- Iris Hawthorne."

"Older sister? Really, Pearl. I didn't know that… but why aren't you living together?" I asked her curiously. Pearl lifted her head high and answered.

"Well, I'm also a spirit medium in training like Mystic Maya here. Iris is training to be a nun of the Hazakura Temple. She had to live at the temple for her training, so that's why we're not in the same house. But it's all good! We still keep in touch!"

"Is that right? Um, good to hear, Pearls."

Before I turned back to my patient waiting until the elevators and the stairs to the dorms cleared up, I did not expect little Pearl Fey to continue on with the topic. "But you know, you can't really date a nun because the nun has devoted duties to the one high up above and can't give her heart to anyone. At least, if you date a really cute spirit medium who not only has power but has the heart to love, you're definitely going to live happily ever after!" Immediately she nudged her older cousin on the side. "Right, Mystic Maya?"

"Ahahaha... good one, Pearly!" Maya laughed at the question with a bit of trembling in between her chuckles. I, on the other hand, just gave a nervous grin, while at the same time trying to determine what little Pearls was trying to hint at. After the laughter, she gazed towards the cafeteria booth and stared at the menu above the booth. Right at the moment she placed her hands on her stomach and a sad look on her face.

"Man, oh man... I could seriously use for a double cheeseburger right now... or even a spicy chili burger too..." Maya sighed and lowered her head while continuously rubbing her stomach. "When are we able going to check out our dorms upstairs? I mean I even placed my wallet in one of my suitcases and I feel bad asking people for money just for my hunger's sake..."

To my right, from out of the blue, Ema Skye looked up from reading her textbook about basic forensic science, and handed an unopened bag of Snackoos to Maya. "Here. It's burger-flavored Snackoos. Sure it ain't a burger, but I can guarantee you it'd fill you up."

"You are a hero, Ema!" Maya smiled happily and gladly accepted the bag of Snackoos. She opened the bag carefully and began to munch. Ema just grinned at Maya's delight and continued to munch on her own bag. Maya then took a napkin, opened it up flat, and poured a bit of the Snackoos to share with the rest of the table. Larry and Iris joined our table and began munching.

In the meantime on the table next to us was Apollo, who had a book open in front of him but was staring at the people crowding around the lobby. I thought at first that he was getting frustrated with these times wasted here at the cafeteria that I decided to switch tables for awhile and provide the kid some company.

"Being observant, I see," I interrupted his quiet time when Apollo snapped to reality. He turned his head towards me as I simply gave him a short wave.

"Oh, Phoenix. Sorry, didn't see you there." Apollo scratched his head curiously. "What's up?"

"Well, just stopping by to see if you want some Snackoos at the other table. I pointed to the occupied table with an open napkin filled with Snackoos."

Apollo grinned with a nod. "Nice to see that we're all in one gang of noobs in this crazy jungle!"

"You're telling me." I rested my chin against my fists with my elbows supporting my restless form, sighing in impatience. Apollo continued to do his self-observation of the people at the lobby.

"Most of those girls surrounding the stairs and the elevators to the top floors aren't from The LPW, though they are students here at The CILO," Apollo continued with the short conversation. "I can tell just by their little fangirlish gestures and their somewhat girly giggles that they would do anything--- just anything--- just to get a glimpse of the _dashingly handsome _men of The LPW."

I found myself raising an eyebrow of curiosity after hearing what Apollo just stated. "How can you tell?"

Apollo simply pointed his finger to his eyes. "A lawyer in general should always be alert at all times, not by what they can gather from the witnesses in question or whatever evidence they can gather along with background information, but you also need to observe your atmosphere around you, which includes the people involved in the courthouse. Keen observation, Phoenix. You can tell when a witness is telling the truth or lying through their teeth just by gesture and body language alone. The only thing you need in order for you to succeed in that is patience."

Though staring and looking at random people wasn't exactly my idea of cross-examination in mind, I decided to keep this small tip in mind. It might also help would-be detectives with this tip since they will be going through interrogation with the suspect first before they can be tried in court. At that time, Apollo and I headed back to our table to join in our little Snackoos party. We remained quiet, just easily munching on the Snackoos until Ema broke the ice.

"So, um, sorry to bug you all, but I've been curious and everything," Ema spoke while munching on her favorite snack. "I thought we'd break the ice a bit since we're all gonna be living under the same roof here at The LPW."

"What do you have in mind, Ema?" Maya asked curiously along with enthusiasm in her eyes.

Ema cleared her throat while she took a sip from her bottle of strawberry soda. After she gently gulped the refreshing drink, she answered Maya with her usual calm smile. "I have a hunch that all of you got one goal here as a student of The CILO. I bet every single student here from noob to veteran are all thinking the same thing too. For some reason I can see it in your eyes."

Apollo shrugged his arms slowly and joined in. "I agree, but I'm basing my assumption on all our different personal goals here at The CILO. I mean, we've got you, a strong believer of science as the true detective of criminal cases. Then we've got the Feys here studying on becoming master spirit mediums. Iris Hawthorne here has a purpose for The CILO's program, which was to provide inner healing and relaxation through prayer and meditation."

Iris bowed her head humbly and answered Apollo: "Well, I'm no expert. I'm still on training myself, but my mentor felt that my training would be more effective if I put what I've learned in real-life situations. The CILO recently requested our spiritual services to provide support for their hardworking students and to console them with whatever troubles they may have during their days here at The CILO. I guess you can say we're just like guidance counselors in school, but more on the inner healing side. I hope you all understand what I'm trying to say. And when I heard that my little sister Pearl here and my cousin Maya would be studying here too, I decided to take on the offer. And here I am!"

Larry patted Iris on the shoulder with his usual cheesy grin. "You rock, Iris baby! I think you're going to do such a fine job--- providing therapy and healthy for us... worked up, stressed out, troubled... and lonely... students..." Just as I was afraid of what may happen, Larry began to rub himself closer to Iris, which made me react quickly.

"Larry, cut it out," I said to him with my glare to him. "She's a temple nun. She doesn't need you corrupting her with whatever plans you've got in your head."

Larry quickly shouted at me with his usual excited expression: "Dude, why you gotta be like that, man! I was just being friendly, man!"

"Right... a little too friendly." I crossed my arms, still darting my eyes at him.

"Or are you just jealous 'cause I got a cute girl to chill with me for a bit, huh Nick?" Though somewhere inside I did feel a bit jealous, I knew at the same time that I wouldn't have time to handle a romantic relationship. Still, I have to admit that Iris Hawthorne was way too pretty to be a nun. Not that I'm saying that all nuns aren't pretty, is all.

"Well, anyway," Apollo went back on the subject. "Phoenix and I are here to defend the wronged and the innocent simply by learning how to seek and retrieve the truth. Larry Butz here is..."

"Oh!" Larry chuckled from where Apollo left off. "I'm just hanging around here to have adventure in my life, know what I'm saying? Memorable moments, mingling with the coolest people around, checkin' out some cute chicks, come on, I gotta live my life to the fullest by doing something different, so... I'm here!"

"Right," Ema snickered and continued. "While we're all here striving to get on top of our future career goals in life, I'm pretty sure you're all here because you want to investigate The CILO altogether."

Pearls gazed at Ema with a confused look on her face. "Hm? Why would we want to investigate The CILO while we're studying here? I mean, I don't think there's anything suspicious about The CILO, right?"

"Oh no, it's not about The CILO itself, young Pearl," Ema winked with her pointer finger pointed upward. "It's what's really happening here at The CILO every single month and no one even had the guts to report it to the authorities or even the media."

At that instant, I already knew where Ema was leading us to. In case no one at this table knew what the future forensic investigator, I decided to answer. "You're talking about _The Deauxnim Curse_, aren't you?"

Ema snapped her fingers and her smile grew wider. "Bingo!"

"Ah!" Apollo exclaimed. "I've read about that case in history back in junior high but it's just urban legend known to every student here at The CILO. I even heard that there were a few groups of students teamed up together and study this centuries-old murder case and prove to see if this place was really cursed or not. So far, none found anything incriminating that would turn that case around." He scratched his head gently and continued. "I guess you could say that yeah... I'm interested in getting to the bottom of that entire _Deauxnim Curse_ story."

Maya gasped in excitement and broke her silence: "That's actually why Pearl and I came here. We want to see if we can use the power we've got now to channel a spirit and tell us the story behind that entire murder case!"

Right away I noticed Pearl's reaction looking rather confused. "W-we... we are...?"

"Yes, Pearly, we are! We're going to channel a spirit of someone from that era!" Maya exclaimed with more enthusiasm on her face. "Let's just say I took a peek at a few of Mia's research papers. She did write about the _Deauxnim Curse_ as her first dissertation research on her first year here at The CILO. What also makes it more interesting is that a spirit medium is highly involved in it. Amaryllis Deauxnim is a whole mystery. I actually forgot to check the old archives at Kurain Village library to see if there's any record of her. Hm, I should contact someone there and do the research for me."

Pearl tightened her fist and provided her own opinion. Her expression suddenly changed from looking curious and confused to determined, though it seemed like she decided to go along with what Maya just said. "Well, um, Mystic Maya and I are on a mission here at The CILO. We owe it to the great Amaryllis Deauxnim, the legendary spirit medium who successfully channeled spirits for the purpose of justice! But she was wronged in that case... seriously wronged... Mystic Maya and I want to get to the bottom of this whole _Deauxnim Curse _mystery. We believe that Amaryllis Deauxnim was murdered by an unknown evil force, not because she killed herself. She had no reason to kill herself. She was in danger with the detectives then. Maybe the detectives told her to run and escape the killers to save herself."

Maya nodded in agreement while I sat silently, listening to the Feys. "Most people are skeptical. I can understand that. But we people of Kurain Village, more specifically the Fey Clan, are the real deal with spirit channeling. There's a lot of fakes out there, trying to claim they can call the dead just for fame. Pearl and I want to show everyone that whenever we mention spirit channeling, we mean business. Let's just say, we want to awe the skeptics once we do go through the spirit channeling processes when needed, one day." Right at that time, she gazed quickly at me and gave me a wink. When she did that, I felt as if Maya knew I was one of those skeptics. I decided to ignore her signals and proceeded with this conversation.

"I want to contribute any way I can with your investigation, although I seem to lack... investigative skills..." The rather shy and sweet Iris contributed her statement and simply gave her timid smile. "I know many of you aren't really that religious but I think I can counsel anyone who may be troubled and... lift their spirits up and give it all they got in order to be triumphant! Frankly I can only give moral support. But after hearing about the various legends and rumors surrounding this prestigious institution, I too am curious and would like to seek the truth about this _Deauxnim Curse_. After all, it's for my little sister and my cousin's sake, after all."

Larry quickly patted the girls on their shoulders. "See, that's the _spirit_! Ha! Get it?"

"Larry," I murmured his name in a low tone. Though he is my best friend I seriously wished he could be serious once in awhile. Nevertheless, he noticed my low tone and then cleared his throat.

"You know what we should be, since we're the only ones talking about this whole curse thing going on at The CILO? We should be like a really cool, investigative secret crew! We can be secretly called _The CILO's Most Elite_! It's got a really cool ring to it! Don't you think so? We're so _elite _that we're the only ones who would soon to be the experts of the entire curse thing. We're gonna be making a name for ourselves to clearing up the reputation in this wonderful school! We're gonna be hailed as heroes!"

Knowing Larry's logic, I began to speak up. "_The CILO's Most Elite_, huh? How on earth are we going to be considered _elite _if we're supposed to be _secretly _called that? I mean, if people around us know that we're _The CILO's Most Elite_, then we woudln't be a _secret crew_ anymore."

Larry frowned right at me with his arms crossed. "Dude, Nick, why you gotta shut me down like that! You're always so serious with all these mysteries and stuff. You gotta lighten up and enjoy your young life--- whatever is left of it."

If this were a regular high school, maybe I would take it easy. But this huge opportunity as a student in The CILO doesn't include partying and having fun that's got nothing to do with what we're studying in the first place. After all, we were all here to study and succeed in life, not to waste our time partying and then get bored later. Still, uncovering, or at least trying to uncover, the whole truth behind this particular urban legend would be a fun thing to do. I just hope it wouldn't be any dangerous like those mysteries that we read about in novels and watched on TV and on the movies.

"Wright is right, Larry," Ema answered with her cool grin on her face. "Besides, The CILO already has their _most elite_." Right then she pointed her thumb behind her as we all turned our heads towards the balcony.

It looked like order had finally come in the lobby court. There were security guards gently dividing the crazy crowd and made way right from the entrance and even through the elevators and the stairs. The security guard troop, lead by some loudmouthed old woman, created their guard chains to prevent the fans from getting in the way of the entrance.

"Jeez, it's about time!" Apollo sighed with his arms crossed. "We've been waiting here for so long, and to what? Just to check out how our dorms are like and who our roomies are?" Just as we were about to sigh in relief with him, we all stumbled at the shrill of that familiar voice yelling right at the out of control crowd.

"Quiet, y'all immature whippersnappers! Your annoying little fangirly screams and whines and cheers is disturbing the peace here at The LPW! Make way for _The CILO's Most Elite_! Stand back or we'll make sure all of y'all will be sent to the chancellor's office for disrupting the peace and prestige of this school!"

I turned my head back to my new group of friends and noticed that each of us had the same expression on our faces. Larry scratched his head and whispered: "Don't tell me... that was..."

"Yup. Our cranky shuttle driver from earlier," Maya sighed, shrugging her arms. "Wow, I gotta admit. Miss Wendy sure is one active old lady! Not only she's a shuttle driver but she's head of security guard in this school too?"

"And there she goes again with the whole _Demon Prosecutor _and _rock star prosecutor _thing again, just like earlier," Larry continued on with his own statements. "Dude, I thought this was supposed to be some fancy and polite school and no one cares who's popular and who isn't?"

Ema cleared her throat and then flashed a slight grin. "Oh, if you ask me, every school no matter how fancy or specialized or two-bit they may be, there's always popularity going on. In The CILO's case, it's the top potential students who would most likely to succeed in law and order. My sister Lana had informed me a lot about some interesting stuff among the _most elite circle_ in this school. In fact, she got lucky to be part of that _most elite circle_."

Just as the commotion at the lobby area toned down a little, we all stood from our table and headed to the exit of the cafeteria area. The girls had to stand on the empty chairs to see what was in front of the screaming lunatic crowd. Pearl asked Larry if she could sit on his shoulders so she can see the entire scene politely. Larry obliged with a grin and carried her on his shoulders. Who would say no to a little girl for a small boost like that?

Before I knew it, I felt a rather heavy weight right on my back with tight arms completely wrapped around me. I struggled to turn my head to see Maya attempting to do the same with Pearl.

"Hey--- what are you doing?" I groaned while I continued to keep my balance on the floor.

"You're taller than Larry, Nick. I wanna see too!" Maya cheered and continued to climb right up to my shoulders. I admitted to myself that for a short and petite girl that she was, her body was quite heavier than I thought.

"Maya, you're breaking my back--- what on earth have you been eating lately?" Immediately I felt another shot of pain on my right shoulder. The spirit medium in training just slapped me on my shoulder blade. "What was that for?"

"Are you making fun of my weight, Nick?" Maya shot a complaint right at me.

"N-no--- it's just that... I'm not used to---"

"There's always a first time, Nick!" Maya grinned. Instead, I ended up giving her a piggyback, using whatever strength I have left of me.

Once the security guards and uncommon men in black entered, still creating the human barriers against the crowd, the crowd began to cheer just as some students and some adults entered through the doors.

"Well, looks like the parade of the _elites _is about to begin." We all heard Ema made her narration from behind. "First person coming in was none other than the current chief prosecutor of our lovely city, Manfred von Karma. Still as snobby and conceited as ever. The young girl right behind him is prosecutor-in-training, Franziska von Karma. She's as snobby and conceited as her own old man just because she happened to be the youngest elite prosecuting students in The CILO and the fact that the von Karmas have had a long history of perfect prosecuting wins in every case they were assigned to prosecute. But just because they have a perfect record, that doesn't mean they're perfect."

"How's that?" Pearl asked curiously.

"There's a lot of rumors going on around the prosecution law students and faculty that Manfred von Karma was so in to keeping his record perfect that he would do anything--- even fabricating evidence--- in order to get the defendant guilty. But you didn't hear that from me."

I noticed Pearl staring at Ema blankly, but then decided to mind her own business and turned back to the parade of _elites_. Ema continued naming and giving a short profile of every person who passed through the doors. There were brothers Neil and Jake Marshall, with Neil being a prosecuting law student and Jake studying to become a detective. Next came Kristoph Gavin, studying law on the defender side, like Apollo and me. Ema's own sister Lana also came along with the Criminal Justice Director, Damon Gant, and some of Lana Skye's friends.

Then, the final four came. A couple in love, later identified by the Feys as defense attorney interns, Mia Fey and Diego Armando, came first. Who would have thought they were in that particular circle? Even Maya and Pearl had no idea about this fact. Right then, the Fey Girls called for the tall and sensuous-looking Mia and waved. The raven-haired lady turned her head towards us and spotted Mia and Pearl immediately. She then flashed a lovely smile and waved at them.

Finally, one of the final two arrived. The first came in with the rocker-like black slacks with the first two buttons of his flashy leather top opened to reveal a bit of his bare chest and a bit of his blings around his neck. His long flowing blonde hair was tied back up, and with just a simple smile on the face made majority of the female-based frantic crowd faint while others screamed for his name.

"Hey! I know him! Isn't that the lead singer of that hot rock band, The Gavinners? What the heck is his name again?" Larry exclaimed, looking rather starstruck on his eyes. "Nick, dude! I had no idea celebrities go to The CILO too! The Gavinners seriously rock my socks, man!"

_Maybe they want to have a career backup in case they become a has-been in Hollywood_, my sarcastic conscious made his opinion deep within. I have to admit that I'm not really in to today's popular music as I was far more concentrated on the world around me rather than a stellar world that most people dreamed of being in to. Me, on the other hand, had no plans dealing with celebrities regardless that I live in the city where celebrities flocked everywhere around the corner.

Finally, after the rocker made his way to the stairs, the lobby crowd roared in excitement and in frantic mood when a rather prim and proper young man, estimating his age being the same as mine. He wore a very stylish and vintage-looking magenta-colored outfit that reminded me of Manfred von Karma's proud aristocratic outfit. His hair may looked like it was not properly styled, but even with that somehow he presented a very cool demeanor that truly made the girls scream like there was no tomorrow.

"Last but not least, ladies and gents, that ultra-cool, ultra-handsome young man with the stylish vintage outfit is none other than the _Demon Prosecutor _himself," I heard Ema continued her narration. "Despite the nickname, just his overall exterior can really make a girl go wild for him. I have to admit that I used to have a bit of a crush on him when I was younger. Lana says he's very quiet, very collected, but he seems alright to talk to when you get to know him. But man, oh man..."

"Man, indeed!" Pearl giggled and sighed. "I... I wonder if I'll ever have a prince charming like him... now that would be just so romantic!"

"I have to agree with you girls. I admit he's quite handsome and cool," I overheard Iris made her opinion. Somehow her words made me twitch a little, as if those words made me feel that she just rejected me for attention.

"Maybe they call him the _Demon Prosecutor _because he's got quite a record of victories in mock trials held every month here at The CILO. I've read about him at one of the scholastic teen magazines that I used to read at the library sometimes," Apollo added more facts about this mysterious Demon Prosecutor.

"Hey, no fair!" Maya pouted while she continued to cling on to my back. "I can't see him--- darnit Nick! This is why I want to sit on your shoulders!"

"What...? N-no way! You'll break my shoulder with that---"

"You're just being mean, Phoenix Wright! Come on, I'm not _that _heavy!" Before I knew it, she pressed her wrists right on to my shoulder blades, lifting herself so she would be able to sit on my shoulders. While she continued to do so, I began to tremble, losing my stance on the floor.

"H-hey! Quit it, Maya! Maya!"

"Nick! Don't fall! Don't fall!"

Before I knew it, my feet could not keep my balance and we both fell to the ground.

After, darkness came upon me.

_(To be continued...)_

* * *

_Ace Attorney © CAPCOM. No copyright infringement intended._

**AUTHOR NOTES:**

Again, as mentioned, this is an AU (alternate universe) fic with some elents from the actual plotline. Some notes below:

**[CHARACTERS & AGES PRESENT IN THE STORY]**

Phoenix Wright – 16

Larry Butz – 15

Apollo Justice – 14

Trucy Enigmar - 12

Maya Fey – 15

Pearl Fey – 10

Ema Skye – 15

Iris Hawthorne – 16

Wendy Oldbag - ???

#1 – **Lord Peter Wimsey** is a wealthy nobleman who also works as an amateur sleuth and is also one of the famous amateur detective characters in British crime fiction, created by renowned mystery writer **Dorothy Sayers**. She and another renowned author, **Agatha Christie**, were members of **The Detection Group**, a small circle of authors in the UK who discuss mysteries and crime fiction as well as collaborate together to write crime fiction/mystery novels.

#2 – I decided to make Mia Fey and Diego Armando as public defenders for now. A public defender is a defense attorney represented by the public justice system. Most defendants hire lawyers who have their own practice, and most lawyers who own their practice are always defense attorneys. Prosecutors represent the people and the city or county government and work at the courthouse offices along with the judge, bailiff, etc.

#3 – **[SPOILER] Trucy Enigmar **is Trucy Wright's birth name in **Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney**. Since there are different ages with the canon characters in the fic, I decided to use Trucy's birth name instead of her adopted name. Apollo and Trucy are half-siblings in the game with the same mother, therefore I decided to remain them as half-siblings in the fic.


End file.
